Trimoon
by Kortamu
Summary: A Neopets fic about a banished gelert, her new friends, and a common enemy. Complete.
1. Part One

Disclaimer: I don't own Neopets, if I did I'd be a freakin' millionaire...

A/N: This is a Neopets fic, I wrote it for the Neopian Times, but they wouldn't take it because it had nonexisting pets in it. You can go to to find out what a gelert, aisha, etc. is, and the rest of the characters. I have an account, but I haven't been on for a long time. My username is bullang.

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Trimoon

Part one

Thunder crashed. She was running through the Haunted Woods, away from the angry gelert pack that had banished her.

Her unusually green paws thudded over the earth as she panted for breath. She didn't even see the red lupess in front of her until the two crashed into some nearby bushes.

"Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't see you."

"No, it's my fault. I should've been more careful. Are you okay?" the gelert asked, helping the lupess up.

"Yes. Just a few minor scratches. My name is Persia. What's your name, little one?"

"I--I'm Sarayou." The gelert replied, taking in the lupess's features. Persia was clearly much older than she, and wiser. She had a soft kindness in her eyes, like many other lupes. Sarayou, however, was not any regular gelert.

She was somewhat young, but had a certain hardness to her eyes that suggested that she had had to grow up fast. Her fur was lime green, as opposed to the pale teal color of a normal green pet of her species. Sarayou also had a crescent moon on her left forepaw. Her most peculiar -if not outright startling- feature was her eyes. They were emerald green, with an electric quality to them.

As Sarayou looked at Persia, she noted that she was a mother; the kind firmness and understanding in her eyes proved that.

"Are you lost?" Sarayou's thoughts were interrupted by a voice. Persia.

"No," Sarayou replied quietly.

"What were you running from?"

"Some of my pack. They were…" Sarayou paused. She could tell this kind lupess the truth, couldn't she? _No, _she reasoned. _She'll wonder why._ "They were mad at me." she finished.

"Well, you can stay with my pack tonight if you want to. Or maybe even a few days if your parents won't mind." Sarayou smiled. "Sure."

"Follow me." Persia smiled back, then turned toward a nearby path that led to a clearing.

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A few nights ago, Sarayou probably would have been in some bushes waiting out the storm. Now, instead, she was caring for the puppies while the rest of the lupe pack hunted. _I'll have to earn my keep somehow, _she thought, somewhat merrily. And caring for the pups was the best thing for her; it left all the lupes in the pack open to hunt. They were sure to be more successful than before. Sarayou smiled as one of the puppies fell on his brother. The gelert was as gentle as she was powerful and smart.

"Who are you and why are you here?"

Sarayou jumped. She looked up, ready to yell at whoever it was, then remembered that scaring the puppies was a bad thing and would surely get her kicked out. Instead, she glared up at- who was he? The speaker was a yellow lupe.

He was a different shade than a normal yellow lupe, more gold than yellow, and about Sarayou's age. His eyes were the color of amber; bright gold. Like hers, they had an electric quality. He spoke again, "So are you leaving?"

"Who are you?" Sarayou was intrigued by this mysterious lupe. "I've never seen you before," she finished distractedly, glancing at the pups. As she did so, Sarayou noticed a crescent moon on the lupe's right forepaw, facing the opposite direction as hers -to the left. She stood up, suconsciously trying to hide her own birthmark.

"I'm Sinya. I'm part of the pack, but I don't hang around much. I usually take care of the puppies. When I saw no one was here, I was worried about them. I thought they had been left alone."

"Well Persia's not that stupid." Sarayou stated, as if he should already know. "I'm Sarayou."

"Evidently you know my aunt. So why _are_ you here?"

Sarayou was silent for a moment, not knowing how to explain.

"I was running through the woods when I bumped into your aunt. I was mad -well, _they _were mad at _me_, so Persia offered to let me stay with your pack for a couple of days. I wanted to be helpful, so Renata said I could watch the puppies while they went on a hunt."

"Who was mad at you?" Sinya asked, cocking his head.

"My… pack." Sarayou averted her gaze once more to the puppies.

"Why would your pack be mad at you?" Sinya asked bluntly, completely alien to even the thought of banishment, or any kind of anger toward a pack member for that matter.

"Esme! Hi! How did it go?" Sarayou bounded toward Sinya's family as if they were her own. Sinya joined in on the welcome, along with the puppies.

"Not so well. No thanks to you," came a harsh, gruff voice. It was strong, commanded obedience, and was not much older than Sinya and herself, Sarayou figured.

Sarayou stopped dead in her tracks as the rest of the pack filed into the cave. She lowered her head and backed away. "Wha -what did I do?" she asked quietly, not wanting to upset the speaker, who she now recognized as Rafe, Sinya's older cousin -and second in command.

"You held us up!" Rafe snapped. "We were ten minutes behind the rise of the river! We had to take the dangerous route along the edge of the cliff! Do you know what you have cost us?!" Rafe was yelling now, and the room was silent, except a barely audible moan of pain from one side of it. Sarayou's ears perked and rotated to the sound, then her head followed suit.

Rafe's father, Kova, lay there, his right foreleg obviously broken; he was near death. A tear threatened to fall from Sarayou's cheek at the sight.

"Don't you dare cry. He's not your father." Rafe demanded. "Out."

Now that Kova was disabled, Rafe would take over -whether his father survived or not. Which wasn't likely. Sarayou stood there, stunned; then wavered a little, stuttering,

"I -I… I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-" The tears welled up; her throat swelled.

"Now!" Rafe boomed. His white fur ruffled. He bared his teeth at her in a savage snarl. Sarayou broke down then. She ran out; the world around her was becoming more and more of a blurry whir around her every second -all green; all brown; a mix of the two.

"What was that for?!" Sinya yelled; it was the last thing Sarayou heard before she shut everything out. She ran and ran, and didn't stop until she reached a cave, then, and only then, did she lay down to rest.

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Sinya started toward the cave entrance.

"I'm going after her. You didn't have to yell at her." He said over his shoulder matter-of-factly.

"If you leave don't you dare come back." Rafe growled, a dangerous frozen hardness in his voice, followed by a mixed response. There were growls, whimpers, wailings from the puppies, and a few were silent. Sinya's mother, Esme, began to cry. Some had a cold look in their eyes, like they wanted him gone. The remaining few had an indifferent air about them. "QUIET!" Rafe boomed once more. It wasn't hard for him. The room fell silent. Almost. Esme's soft sniffles filled the void.

Sinya stopped. He glanced at the ground, then brought his head up. Pretending not to notice Rafe's smug smirk at his passing, he turned around to face the puppies; he padded over to them. He singled out the oldest -about six months, and his personal favorite- and went about taking her aside and asking her to be a big girl and take care of her siblings, like he had taken care of her, while he was gone.

She replied with shock, "But Sinya, how'm I supposed to take care of them all? I won't be nearly as good as you -why _can't_ you?" Vivie had exceptionally nice speech for one so young, Sinya noticed, as Persia had always said.

"Because I won't be here any more. I'm needed elsewhere." Sinya replied. Vivie burst into tears at this notion. "Shh, don't cry," Sinya comforted her. After a while she calmed down again.

"But where?" Vivie asked.

"I don't know," Sinya didn't like where this was going.

"Then how will you get there?"

"Just be a big girl and trust me, okay? I'll be all right." Even though he said it softly so she wouldn't get upset again, his voice still filled the room. The pack had been silent, save for Esme, and remained so. Vivie nodded, and hugged Sinya.

"I'll miss you." Her voice was muffled through Sinya's fur; only he could hear it.

"Me too." Sinya hugged her back, then put her down with her brothers and sisters. He turned to Rafe, whose smirk disappeared.

"Consider me gone." Sinya turned and left with these words. He saw Esme try to reach him, only to be blocked by two husky yellow lupes -Rafe's brothers. Her mournful wails echoed through Sinya's mind.

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_The sun was… not there. Axel stood before her, her soon-to-be husband. He blocked it out with his burly blue gelert-ness. Then he growled at her. No, it wasn't Axel. The sound came from behind him. All of a sudden he crashed to the ground. Someone had attacked him! For a moment she lay there, then stood, watching the gelerts -Axel and his assailant- fight._

_The latter slashed at Axel, knocking him back to the ground. The blue gelert got up again, wincing from the pain, and slashed back. The attacker -she thought she saw a glimmer of red fur- grabbed Axel's foreleg and shook it savagely, throwing him to the ground once more. The aggressor placed a clawed red paw over Axel's throat._

_Sarayou's instinct finally kicked in and she lunged at the red gelert. She pinned him as he had done Axel. His face caught the light. It was-_

"Wake up! Sarayou, wake up!"

Sarayou opened her eyes. Sinya was there. He looked worried. She realized she was shaking. "What happened? You looked scared."

"Huh? Oh, that. Nightmare."

"Is that all?" Sinya looked surprised. "You looked ready to kill something there at the last. I was half scared to come in."

"Oh. I'm sorry," Sarayou answered blankly. Then she came to her senses. "Why are you here? I thought you were one of them."

"Not anymore. I'm alone now."

"What? You left? Why?" It came out in a rush. Sinya was surprised.

"I left… to… to get you," Sinya replied quietly, embarrassed. "And Rafe said not to come back if I went."

"And you came anyway?! Why?! You had a family that loved you, a roof over your head, and you just threw it all away? For what, a scraggly, meaningless mutt like me? No. You're going back."

"What? No! Rafe will kill me! I can't go back!" Sinya feared for his own life as well as hers. _He'll kill you,_ he thought at Sarayou, disdainfully.

"We'll see about that." Sarayou took Sinya by the back of his neck and started to drag him away.

"Ow, ow, ow! Stop it! I'll go if you let go!" Sinya meant this; Sarayou's teeth were sharp. _Too sharp for __any normal gelert, _he thought. "We can sneak in -there are plenty of back ways." He said this to convince her. It worked -she let go.

"You better not be lying." Sarayou's voice was dangerous. "Go on then, you live there."

"Lived." Sinya corrected. He couldn't help thinking what would happen should they be caught. He set off the way he had come. Sarayou, following him, made no sound whatsoever. The leaves didn't crunch under her paws, the twigs didn't snap under the pressure of her weight. Sinya had to keep looking back to make sure she was there. She was, every time. He wondered how she did it.

It had been late afternoon when they left. Now it was dark. They found somewhere to sleep under some bushes. They chased a snowbunny away several times before they realized they were sitting on its hole. When they finally did fall asleep, it didn't last long. Sarayou awoke, whimpering, to the same nightmare.

"Why does it keep coming back?" Sinya looked at her, worried.

"I don't know," she lied. "Come on, we need to get there before dark." Sarayou stood up and waited for Sinya to take the lead once more. He did, asking questions all the while.

"So why was your pack mad at you?" Sinya decided to try one last time to start a conversation. His previous attempts had proved fruitless.

Sarayou hesitated, not knowing whether to tell him the truth or not. She settled for in between. "Because I did something very, very bad and unforgivable." she said it with a stern finality that sent a chill down Sinya's spine. "Is this it?"

_Change of subject? What have you got to hide? _"Yeah, this is it." he answered, putting those thoughts aside and leading Sarayou inside. They found some leftovers from the last night's hunt and had breakfast. A few long passageways, twists, and turns later, Rafe and the rest of the lupe pack came into view. Sarayou and Sinya could see the others, but hid behind a rock so as not to be seen themselves.

"So that's why we didn't see anyone." Sinya said. Sarayou cocked her head in bewilderment. Sinya explained, "Rafe is holding a meeting."

"What for?"

"I don't know. But we're just in time to find out!"

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A/N2: While I was editing this, I realized how fast it goes. Sorry if it's too fast-paced, but unless I find a reallllllllly good reason to change it, I won't.


	2. Part Two

Disclaimer: As before.

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Part Two

"Fellow lupes! This is a time for action! That wretched gelert killed my father! She killed our leader. I know where her pack resides. We attack on the night of the full moon, when our strength is greatest. You -we- have one week to get ready and gather any forces we wish. Dismissed." Rafe's leader-voice echoed and boomed in the cave, and even louder in Sarayou's head. An uproarious cry sounded as one of the dispatching lupes spotted her and Sinya hiding behind the rock.

"There she is! Get her!" a yellow lupe charged at them, followed by cries of "There's the traitor!" and "You'll pay for what you did!"

"Uh-oh." It was the only thing that came out of either of them before they shot off like petpets out of a cannon. They sped right past the stunned lupe pack, including Rafe, and out the front entrance. Neither of them stopped until they reached the cave Sarayou had been in earlier, when she first ran off.

Sinya didn't want to stop even then. "Remind me," he paused for a breath, "why we are here in the first place."

"You know very well why." Sarayou didn't want to discuss those matters. "He's going to attack my pack. And it's all my fault!" she wailed, realization suddenly sinking in.

"Shh! They'll hear you. My family is known for our exceptional hearing. Now what are we going to do about Rafe?" Sinya's voice dropped to a low murmur. "What _can_ we do in less than a week?"

"Hasia." Sarayou named an old childhood friend who happened to be the alpha female of an aisha pride close by.

"Hasee who?" Sinya was totally baffled.

"Not 'hasee' you idiot. Hasia. Hah-see-uh. You better pronounce her name right when you meet her. She can be moody about that."

"Whatever. Who is she?"

"My best friend." Sarayou sounded irritated.

"I see."

"Come on, let's get moving." Sarayou trotted off to the west, with Sinya not far behind.

"Aishas." the lupe gave a small shudder. Before the duo was a field, filled with aishas of all shapes, colors, and sizes. They had been traveling all through the day, and now it was early morning.

Sarayou stepped into the group without a problem. Hi's, Hello's, and Where have you been's filled the air. Sarayou answered as many as possible before everything went silent. The aishas turned their heads to a single point. Then they abruptly exploded in a flurry of hisses, spats, claws, and teeth. Sinya screamed like an scared baby wocky and raced to Sarayou, trying to squeeze underneath her.

"Call them off! Call them off! For Pete's sake HELP ME!"

Sarayou giggled and jumped away from him.

"He's with me," she said, still giggling. The aisha pride immediately backed down, but most remained on their guard.

Suddenly their ears all turned around, followed by their gazes. They stood and formed a path. An obviously important aisha strode confidently down the walkway, muttering greetings and smiling at her subjects. All in all the pride consisted of about fifty pets.

The approaching aisha stopped midway and studied Sarayou, as if trying to remember who she was.

"Sarayou! Oh my gosh! I haven't seen you in forever!" Hasia bounded toward Sarayou, but stopped when she saw Sinya, who had begun to creep out from Sarayou's protection. At the sight of Hasia he screamed and hid again, this time whimpering.

Hasia blinked at him, then laughed.

"Is he with you?"

"Yeah." Sarayou looked at Sinya sarcastically. "Some lupe, huh?" Sarayou laughed again, then hugged her friend.

Hasia was a faerie aisha. But, like Sinya and Sarayou, she wasn't a normal neopet. She was a shadow faerie. Her wings were the same pattern, but the pattern was a translucent black. The background color was the glittering blue-black of a faerie grundo's wings. Hasia herself was blacker than the blackest shadow. There was a birthmark on her forehead. It looked like an upright eye; it was creamy white in color. Her eyes were an electric, glittering black-everything about her was glittering. She was truly a sight to behold.

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"What?!" Hasia's eyes went wide.

"And he's not only _attacking_ my family, he plans to annihilate my entire pack." Sarayou had just recounted their story to Hasia, while Sinya stood outside trying to make a few friends. He had located a mutant aisha by the name of Koveero that seemed pretty nice.

"And why are you telling me this? I have a hunch, but…" Hasia trailed off.

"Your hunch is probably right. I don't know how to ask this…" Sarayou shifted uncomfortably. "I need help with Rafe's forces. I need to help my family. I have to pay my debt to my pack. Then maybe they'll… tolerate me, at least. Even after what I did."

"And what was that?" Hasia's eyes narrowed. "Are you lying to me?"

"No! No, never. I just don't want to talk about it. Will you help or not? The drawback is that we need to have everything going in a week -well, five days now."

"Yes. I'll help. We don't need much training. We just need to explain the situation to the pride." Hasia trotted off to the rock she and her husband, a desert aisha named Toranyo, used for announcing various things, such as a declaration of war.

Sarayou followed, and grabbed Sinya on the way. He started to protest, but caught Sarayou's warning glance.

_Hope this goes well,_ Hasia thought, stepping up to the rock. She began her speech.

"Fellow aishas! This is a time for action!"

Sinya grimaced at Hasia's choice of words. It was the exact same opening Rafe had used. Hasia went on, "You all know Sarayou. Or you have at least heard about her. She is my friend. My very best friend. Always has been, always will be." She turned and smiled at Sarayou, who smiled back. "She has come for our help. Most of you know of Kova's lupe pack, correct?" Quite a few aishas nodded, obviously more than Hasia had expected. Her eyebrows raised a bit.

"More of you than I thought. Well, back to the problem at hand. Evidently Sarayou had pack troubles, and sought refuge there. She attended the puppies, and Sinya found her and asked her why she was there. Thus they met. And from what I'm told, Rafe walked in, accused Sarayou of causing Kova's death, and told her to leave. She did, followed closely by Sinya.

"They went back to make Sinya return to his pack, and overheard a discussion about an ambush on Sarayou's pack and family. They've come to me for help, and my strength is theirs to command. What say you, my loyal subjects, friends, family? Peace or war?"

At this the field that was the aisha pride's home erupted in various response cries.

"War!"

"Take them down!"

"They'll regret ever messing with us!"

"When do we start?"

That was only a few. They were really hyped up. _Evidently they have a great sense of loyalty to their friends. _Sinya raised his eyebrows.

"Quiet! Please, settle down!" Hasia tried her best to quiet them, but to no avail. Sarayou sent a bone-chilling howl through the air, cutting it off midway with a quick, high-pitched yip.

Once everyone was settled down -and the wait wasn't long- Hasia started up again.

"Toranyo would be jealous, Sarayou. His roar is unmatched -was. He is not here. He's alive and well, mind you, but not here. That is why we must stick together. All on the same side. We have until the full moon to gather our forces and get to Sarayou's pack. Sarayou and Sinya will scout tonight, and warn her pack of the oncoming danger. They should signal us by about this time tomorrow. If not, we head up there ourselves. Until then, practice and hone your skills -your life is on the line."

With that, Hasia turned and bid farewell to Sarayou and Sinya. "Godspeed," She said, and they were gone.

"We're nearly there."

"Huh?" Sinya woke from his daze. Pushing his previous thoughts aside, he went to the side of the path they were on to sniff a scent trail. "We're close," he repeated.

"I just said that. Now quit dawdling. We need to find Axel before anyone else finds us." Sarayou trotted forward, a little faster than usual. _I hope he isn't rematched, _Sarayou thought. _If he is, I'm doomed. He's the only one who ever really trusted me._

"Who's Axel?"

"A friend." Sarayou hid her face from Sinya. A tear rolled down her cheek and barreled to the ground. She shook herself, then stepped into a clearing in front of a cave.

She and Sinya stopped dead in their tracks.

"Oh. Great. The barricade's up. And nobody's here." Sarayou said. "Oh well, Axel might be with the puppies. Come on." She led Sinya through a bunch of thorn bushes, around the barricade. The trail leading to the brambles was short and opened up to a small room. Finally they came upon a big gelert. He was blue. Gently he picked up a little green puppy gelert and tickled him. The baby resembled Sarayou in personality. He was her little cousin, Bonaou.

The gelert put Bonaou down, and started down the passageway Sarayou and Sinya were in. Suddenly he stopped and sniffed the air. His voice was slightly raspy and deep -the voice of a broken heart.

"You've got guts, coming back here. And bringing that mutt with you."

Sarayou stepped out of the shadows. "Can I still trust you, or are you going to sound the alarm? Would you go so far as to betray me, the one who trusted you with her life? The only one who cared enough to keep you out of danger?" Sarayou's voice was strained from trying not to run up and hug Axel, crying.

"No. No, I won't. But why are you here and who is he?" Axel stepped closer. Sarayou saw a fang in the moonlight shining in from a crack in the ceiling.

"He is Sinya. I need to warn you. And the pack. Sinya's pack -all but he- are planning to attack us. I've recruited Hasia's aisha pride to our side."

"Why are they attacking?" Axel's features went from rock hard to alarmed. Sarayou told the short version. Axel led them into another chamber, where they sat down.

"But -Kova- he's dead?" Axel said it slowly, in shock.

Sinya nodded. "Unfortunately. He was a great leader. Rafe took over. I know you knew him. But I didn't know you were friends. Well, such is the situation. We have until the full moon to get ready."

The trio heard thudding paws in the tunnel. Their ears all rotated to the sound. A red gelert popped in the doorway. He had a scar in an X on his left cheek. Sarayou stood abruptly, startling Sinya and Axel. The red gelert looked at her in the eyes, their gazes locked.

"Brother?!" Scenes from the battle flashed in Sarayou's mind. Axel standing over her, her brother attacking him, watching them fight. Sarayou attacking her brother in Axel's defense… taking his life by accident…

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A/N: You who have read my other stories will notice the difference in styles between this one and the others. To clarify any confusion about that, this was my first attempt at a Fanfic. Plus, the thing I wrote it for, one of the rules was that it had to be basically PG13.

Hence the slight kiddie-ness.


	3. Part Three

Disclaimer: As before.

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Part Three

"You missed my main artery." The red gelert, Sarayou's brother, explained. He stepped closer to Axel. "Why didn't you send out the warning?" He demanded. "You know she was banished. Just when I thought I could trust you." He turned to go and tell their father about Sarayou's return.

"Jyrich! Please, don't. I didn't mean to hurt you. Not at all. Don't blame Axel. Blame me. I was the one that convinced you to Let Axel in the pack. I was the one that fell for him. Don't banish him for my mistake. Please." Sarayou pleaded with her brother. Tears were flowing and wouldn't stop. "I didn't know you were still alive. If I did, I wouldn't have come back. I'm sorry," she blubbered through her tears and anguish. "Please forgive me."

Sinya looked on in surprise. He stood and went to Axel's side. "She killed her brother?" he whispered.

"Almost. We thought she did. That's why she was banished from this pack. But evidently she still cares enough to defend us from your pack." Axel and Sinya watched Sarayou and Jyrich for a while.

"I never wanted you to leave. You had every right to attack me. I didn't know what I was doing. I still don't. _You_ need to forgive _me_." Jyrich faced Sarayou squarely, holding back his own tears.

"I do. I would never turn my back on my family." With this, Sarayou hugged her brother, just as their mother walked in to say something to Axel.

"Sarayou? Is that you?" the yellow gelert walked the rest of the way in the room.

"Mom!" Sarayou left her brother to go and hug her mom.

Axel broke in, "We're under attack."

"What?"

"Lets go to the meeting hall. That way everyone can hear at once."

The four of them followed Axel to a large cavern deep in the cave. Gelerts of all shapes, sizes and colors stared in wonder at the group, especially Sarayou. And then there was Sinya, once again the only lupe within miles. After recounting the tale for the third time, Sarayou told them of Hasia's help.

"And she will come to us soon. We have every aisha on our side. Except, of course, Toranyo, who is abroad at the moment."

"Technically," Axel interrupted, "This whole thing is our fault. Mine, actually. I crossed Jyrich and he took revenge. Sarayou almost killed him for attacking me. Then as a group we exiled her and she took refuge there. So it's my fault. I will fight my hardest to redeem that mistake." Axel stepped back grimly, allowing Sarayou to give him a weird look before continuing.

"They plan to take us by surprise. An ambush _will _take place -by us. I've told Hasia this, and she agrees to it. Her aisha pride will surround the clearing in front of our home. When the lupes come in, they'll get a surprise. Then we attack. And yes, Sinya is on our side. He left the lupes to help me. We have until the full moon to be ready for them."

Sarayou stepped away, announcing that she and Sinya would signal the Aishas that they were ready. The pack was abuzz as to why the lupes would want to fight, and how best to defeat them.

Meanwhile, Sinya and Sarayou took off for the clearing. They began the signal, both on the same note, they loosed a long howl cut off at the climax with a short, high-pitched yip. They repeated this sound three times. The retort was a load roar from every aisha in the pride.

"Good. They heard us." Sinya gave a sigh of relief, then went to train with the gelerts. Sarayou stood looking out at the early dawn for a moment, then followed him.

The next three days went by rather quickly. The first day they all trained together. The aishas and gelerts were constantly asking Sinya questions, mostly about his family's weaknesses. He solemnly answered that his pack's main weakness was the phase of moon that was out each night. The fuller the moon, the more powerful they were. And the other way around. Thus they would attack on the full moon.

The second day, the aisha pride left to scout the terrain and get used to fighting. Most of them hadn't lifted a claw once in their lives. But they were nonetheless very strong, and nothing would stop them from defending their friends. The next day would be that of the full moon, and the one when the attack would happen.

"Where are Hasia and the others? They should be back by now," Sinya bit into a piece of chia.

"Yuck. How can you stand that stuff?" Sarayou ignored the question in favor of criticizing lupe eating habits.

"They hate us, we hate them. Natural enemies, you know. Don't look at me like that. I'm not crazy. Besides, it tastes good." Sinya gave a toothy grin.

"We have a little extra time. I want to show you something. Maybe you can make some sense out of it. Jyrich found it when he was little. Sometimes I go there, when I need to be alone. It's a quiet, peaceful place."

"Where? In the cave?" Sinya stood up to follow Sarayou.

"No, it's on kreludor." Her voice was heavy with sarcasm. "Duh, of course it's in the cave."

"Ha ha," Sinya let Sarayou past him into the cave. Neither spoke much on the way to the chamber. Sinya started counting the stalactites for fun. He only had forty-two when he bumped into a stalagmite on the floor. He fell backwards with a loud yelp.

"Hush. This is where we absolutely have to keep quiet. Unless you want impaled."

"Eep." Sinya was especially quiet now. He stepped softly, though no one was quieter than Sarayou. She still made absolutely no sound.

Soon they came upon a doorway. There was no door. The circular opening was lined with rainbow crystals. They glittered like stars. As Sinya entered the chamber, he gawked at its magnificent beauty. He gasped at the sight of a stone of the purest crystal he had ever seen.

"It's so beautiful. How did you find it?" he gazed at the walls, covered in more rainbow crystals.

"Well, I was actually found here. Jyrich was wandering in the caves when he was young. He heard whimpering. He stumbled upon this cave then.

"Jyrich followed the sound, and went inside. He was more amazed than you when he first saw it. Then he noticed a small bundle of green fur beside this pedestal. He picked me up, and took me to Mother. She raised me as her own. Jyrich only came back once, to show me where it was, but I've been here many times since." Sarayou was now standing at the crystal pedestal.

She was soon accompanied by Sinya, who noticed a poem engraved in the crystal.

"Is that what you were talking about? What you couldn't make any sense of?" He looked anxiously at Sarayou.

"Yeah. That's it," Sarayou spoke softly.

Sinya stepped closer and read the poem aloud.

_"When war is at its peak,_

_When pain is at its greatest,_

_When three colors abnormal_

_Come together._

_Left crescent, upright eye, right crescent,_

_Together form Trimoon._

_All enemies will perish,_

_Wiped from the earth as if_

_They never were._

_Few will be spared,_

_Those who are true to their heart._

_Then Trimoon will_

_Disappear,_

_With one more calling yet to be._

_That calling?_

_Do whatever it takes to_

_Keep peace an easy task._

_Soon life will reign,_

_Soon life will return to_

_The way it was before._

_Trimoon will not return_

_Unless it is needed._

_If used wrongly,_

_The world is in mortal peril._

_Thus is the_

_Trimoon prophecy._

"Well then. Sorry, I can't make heads or tails of it either. It's cryptic. I wonder why. Oh well. We tried. Let's get back to the pack. It's probably dark by now. I'll think it over-"

Sarayou threw a paw over Sinya's mouth. Her ears perked up, alarmed.

"Something's wrong." she dashed out of the crystal cave, leaving Sinya to yell,

"Wait up! I don't know the way!"

_He can follow a scent trail, _Sarayou, thought, her mind clouded with worry. She barreled out of the cave just in time to hear someone scream,

"They're here!"

"What?" Sinya panted. He nearly ran into Sarayou, who was standing dumbfounded in the cave entrance.

"Who? Who's here?" he demanded, trying to see past Sarayou. "Hasia? I thought she would have been back by now."

"Shut up." Saryou ran out to the top of the hill that the cave entrance and clearing rested on. It looked over a field that was also her pack's territory.

"No," She breathed. She ran back to Sinya, and glanced at the moon. It was almost full. "Rafe's here. He must have known we heard his plans and rescheduled. I should have known. Go warn everyone! I'll take a head count, then I'll help you call for Hasia." She let it out in a rush. Sinya stood looking at Sarayou for a moment. Then,

"What?" Realization kicked in. "He's here…now?"

"Yes!" she yelled. "Go!" she shoved him in the direction of the speech rock. Sinya noticed the crescent birthmark on her paw.

"What's that?"

"GO!" She gave Sinya a final shove and went back to the hill.

There were about two hundred. Two hundred lupes on the march versus a makeshift army of seventy-five. _Such great odds, _Sarayou thought. Rafe was at the lead. _At least they're going slow. _Then she spotted a different shape beside Rafe. It was light brown, and she thought she saw a little bit of gold, four ears… The shape caught the moonlight.

"Toranyo?!"

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A/N: Oh em gee!


	4. Part Four

Disclaimer: I'm not saying it again.

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Part Four

Sarayou looked on in horror. Were any other aishas with him? She squinted, but couldn't see any others. _But then again, there are a lot of shadow aishas in the pride. Did anyone leave the pride with him? _

Sarayou turned and took off down the hill, towards the gelert lair. She located Sinya, who was trying to get the puppies to a safe place. One was lagging behind. Putting her muscles into full speed ahead, she dashed at the pup, grabbing it as she went by. It yipped in surprise.

An exploding snowball crashed in front of the cave, just behind Sarayou. Sinya stepped in the cave after the puppies just as it hit. Sarayou surged forward once more, this time with the puppy. She raced through the cave, and into the nursery. Sinya stopped for a minute to let her blow past him, then followed, allowing the smallest pups to latch onto his back since they couldn't keep up.

"How did they get a snowball?" Sinya shouted after her. Once they got in the nursery, he lowered his voice. "An exploding one at that?"

"Toranyo. He has connections in the lost desert," Sarayou answered sadly.

"Isn't that Hasia's husband? The leader of the aisha pride?" Sinya was frantic now. "Are the aishas still on our side?"

Sarayou sighed. "Yes, he is. Nevertheless, I saw him marching with the lupes. I didn't see any of the other aishas with him, but it's pretty dark, and most of his close friends are dark colors."

Sinya opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. So he turned to leave, letting Sarayou come up with a reason to make the puppies stay in the cave and away from the entrance.

"Let's go call Hasia. If she's still with us." Sinya heard Sarayou come up behind him. She nuzzled his nose to get him up.

"Don't lie around. We need to get moving. You had plenty of time to take a nap earlier." She left it up to him to get up and follow her.

They left the peace and quiet of the cave and entered chaos and loud war cries. Sinya took off through the battlefield, fighting off attacking lupes all the way. When he reached the speech rock, he looked back to see Sarayou jumping on heads, snapping at some lupes, and swinging at others. When she reached him, she hopped up on the rock and began the S.O.S. call for Hasia and the aishas.

Sinya joined in and in no time they could see Hasia and the pride racing through the field and towards the hill.

"Here they come!" Sarayou raced through the battlefield once more, this time too fast to see, let alone strike at. She ran until she found Hasia, then came to a screeching halt.

"Sarayou! What's wrong?" Hasia barely avoided slamming into the panting gelert.

"They-" Sarayou panted, "They're here."

"The lupes?" Hasia became even more alarmed, if that was possible. Sarayou nodded, and continued,

"They came a night early. Rafe must have known that we heard. He planned an early strike!''

"Oh my god," Hasia resumed running once more, Sarayou following.

"And, Hasia?" Sarayou shot a sorrowful glance at her best friend.

"What?"

"Toran's leading them, at Rafe's right paw." Sarayou said this quickly, trying in vain to keep Hasia from panicking. The aisha stopped in her tracks, and told the pride that she and Sarayou would catch up soon. They ran on, and she and Sarayou slowed to a walk, each trying to get her breath. "I saw him, at the front." Sarayou explained. "I hardly believed it myself, Hasia. But I saw him, right beside Rafe." She fought back tears as she said it, trying to keep strong for Hasia's sake.

"He was with them…with the lupes. I wonder what Rafe told him. Probably a twisted version of what you told us." Hasia turned to Sarayou, her eyes showing traces of suspicion. "Yours is the truth… isn't it?"

"Yes! Why would I ever lie to you? I saw him with my own two eyes, Hasia. I would never lie to you. About anything. Or anyone." Just after she said this, they heard the thunderous roar of battle, and another barrage of snowballs flew at Sarayou. They just barely dodged, and raced into the field. There were lupes everywhere. The aishas were outnumbered one to three; the gelerts, one to four.

Hasia stole a bag of snowballs from a passing lupe and darted even faster towards the hill, with the lupe pursuing her. Sarayou rid herself of a brown lupe and jumped on the one chasing Hasia. She flipped her over -from what Sarayou could tell it was female- and found herself standing over Persia. They both paused, startled at seeing each other, then Sarayou simply fled after Hasia, leaving Persia in the field.

Suddenly Sinya was there, loping beside her.

"I figured it out." He panted, quite out of breath from trying to find them. "I know what it means!"

"You know what what means?" Sarayou looked at him, confused.

"Let's get Hasia! Then she'll hear it as well!" Sinya had to shout to be heard. Sarayou nodded, and went faster, telling Sinya to meet her at the hill. When she got there she collapsed, exhausted from running. Hasia gave her a snowball to throw.

"Evidently Taelia enchanted the bag," Hasia yelled. "It's still as full as it was when I took it." She launched a peach snowball at Rafe's brother, hitting him on the head.

Sarayou threw hers, then told Hasia, "Sinya wants to tell us something! Come on!" she tugged at Hasia's wing. Sinya got there at the same time. "More running! Let's go, Sinya!" the girls ran past Sinya, leaving him to turn around and follow. _Geez, doesn't anyone know how to fly? _Hasia looked around and realized that she and a few others -two aishas, three gelerts, and a lupe- were the only ones with wings. _Oh. Duh. _She fluttered her own dark, glittering wings and picked Sarayou up in one arm, and Sinya in the other, then flew towards the cave entrance.

"Okay, what do you want to tell us?" Hasia hid the enchanted bag of snowballs between a rock and a wall.

"The poem! In the chamber, in the back of the cave! The one you showed me, Sarayou. I'm sure Hasia's seen it."

"Yeah? What about it?" Hasia was growing impatient.

"I solved the riddle! Come on! I'll show you." he took off towards the crystal cavern. The girls exchanged nervous glances, then sped after him.

They still marveled at the beauty of the cavern. It was glowing -and got brighter when they entered. Sinya gasped at the beauty of it all. Hasia and Sarayou gaped.

"The cavern -it… it's never done this before! It was always sparkling, shining. But not glowing!" Sarayou stuttered. She turned in a circle in the center of the room, taking in its glowing warmth.

"What's going on? It's so beautiful. Yes, it's pretty, but why is it doing that?" Hasia was full of questions. She had only been here twice, the day she was born here -then once on her twentieth birthday, for her wedding to Toranyo. Her thoughts flew back to him.

_Toranyo… I wonder if he'll make it. Is he still on their side? _

"The poem," Sinya started, jolting Hasia from her world of thought, "is not a poem at all. It's a prophecy." he led them triumphantly to the slab, reading it aloud once again.

_"When war is at its peak,_

_When pain is at its greatest,_

_When three colors abnormal_

_Come together._

_Left crescent, upright eye, right crescent,_

_Together form the Trimoon._

_All enemies will perish,_

_Wiped from the earth as if_

_They never were._

_Few will be spared,_

_Those who are true to their heart._

_Then Trimoon will_

_Disappear,_

_With one more calling yet to be._

_That calling?_

_Do whatever it takes to_

_Keep peace an easy task._

_Soon life will reign,_

_Soon life will return to_

_The way it was before._

_Trimoon will not return_

_Unless it is needed._

_If used wrongly,_

_The world is in mortal peril._

_Thus is the_

_Trimoon prophecy._

"War _is_ at its peak! Look outside if you don't believe me. And there's so much pain out there you wouldn't believe it._ Three colors abnormal." _Sinya stressed the last sentence, to see if they would catch onto what he was saying.

"That's us!" Hasia said. "We're not normal colors by any means," she cried. "I mean, look at us!"

"Yeah, really," Sarayou joined in. "I'm lime green, not pale teal. And Hasia is a _shadow _faerie aisha! Who ever heard of a shadow faerie aisha? Or any shadow faerie neopet for that matter?" She was shouting now, with realization finally kicking in.

"Yes," Sinya answered. "And I'm gold, but not solid like with a brush. And our eyes. They are definitely abnormal."

"What about the next part? What's 'Trimoon'? And what does it mean by 'Left crescent, upright eye, right crescent'?" Hasia stepped up to make sure she got it right. "Yeah, that's what it says." She turned to Sinya for another answer.

"That, ladies, is where our significance is stated. I don't know what 'Trimoon' is. But what I do know is this. 'Left crescent' -my birthmark, on my right paw. It's a crescent facing left. The 'upright eye' is Hasia's birthmark, on her forehead. It looks like an eye standing upright, on its end. And, lastly, 'right crescent' -Sarayou's left paw. Her birthmark is facing right; it's also a crescent." Sinya grinned triumphantly.

The girls looked at each other.

"And the rest?" They inquired, synchronized.

"The rest is about what will happen if we come together to do something here. All evils pertaining to us three will disappear, as if they never were. It s purpose is to keep the peace, and it won't come back unless we need it. And if it gets into the wrong hands, then this world will be very unpleasant."

"Okay." Sarayou looked around the room. "What is it we're supposed to do?"

"I have a feeling," Sinya said, walking around to the back of the pedestal, "That this is what we do."

There were three small craters in the crystal on the back of the pedestal. They were just big enough for a paw. The left one had a right crescent shape above it, the center one an eye on its end, and the right one a left crescent shape, all different colors of crystal. The first was an emerald, the second clear black obsidian, and the third amber. The room glowed brighter as the trio approached the craters.

Sinya put his left paw in the right one, and instructed Sarayou to put her right paw in the left one.

"Now I put mine in the center. Here goes," Hasia mumbled, doing as she said she would.

The crystal cavern glowed even brighter, almost to a blinding light. The three symbols proved themselves to not be attached to the pedestal, and moved out of it. The three neopets gazed on in amazement as the crystals fused together, becoming a sphere, like a full moon. They took their paws from the holes and watched the object float in the air above them.

"Trimoon!" someone shouted from the cavern entrance.

The three stood and turned to see who it was.

"Rafe! What are you doing here?" Saryou stepped forward to protect her friends. "Get out!"

"You," Rafe growled. "So you were the three destined to unlock Trimoon. I should have known."

"I said, get out," Sarayou growled menacingly. "Your impurity does not belong here!"

"Trimoon is mine! Hand it over!" Rafe rushed forward and tried to grab Trimoon. Instead, Sarayou bit him.

He threw her to the side, her impact with the wall a loud thump, accompanied by a cracking sound. "Do not challenge me, foolish child!" Rafe grabbed Trimoon and took off outside.

"Sarayou! Are you okay? Sarayou!" Hasia rushed to Sarayou's side. Sinya winced at the sight.

"Sarayou, don't leave us! No…" Sinya cried. "Hold on! Don't go!"

"Get…"Sarayou said slowly. "Get Rafe. Get Trimoon back… before it's too late." She winced. Her head was throbbing.

"But what about you? We can't leave you!" Hasia was crying.

"Just go. I'll be fine…"Sarayou trailed off, then knew no more.

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A/N: Wow, this is really good for being so corny... -


	5. Part Five

Disclaimer: For the last $#&)! time, I don't own it!

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Part Five

"Sarayou! No! Sinya, we can't leave her! Let me go! She'll die!" Hasia was hysterical. Sinya, on the other hand, somehow knew that Sarayou would be all right. If only he could get Hasia to listen to him!

"Hasia, Please! She'll be okay. I know her. _You_ know her. She's a fighter. She wouldn't leave us if she had to. Now come on." He pulled harder on Hasia's arm. She bit his paw, forcing him to let go. "Ow! What the- Hasia! Come back!" _Oh, great. Now I have to drag her all the way back here again. _

Sinya took off after her, back to the crystal cavern. He smashed into Hasia at the entrance. She stood motionless, eyes wide and mouth gaping. Sinya followed her gaze to the spot where Sarayou lay. Sinya did a double take.

Sarayou was gone.

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"Ha! It's mine now!" Rafe cried as he triumphantly held Trimoon above his head. He was standing on the hill that overlooked the gelerts' meadow. "It has always belonged to me." Rafe let out a savage war cry that made him the center of attention. All around him gelerts, aishas, even lupes, stopped fighting to see what he was doing.

Rafe looked down at the scene. It was a grim one, but necessary. It had to happen if he was to take over Neopia, didn't it? A great war, fought by three different species, all so he could get Trimoon. It glittered in his paws.

Rafe felt power. There was great power emanating from Trimoon. It was said to make the holder as powerful as he wanted, with no boundaries. Obviously, that would be to be the most powerful of all beings.

"You know you are all here for a cause. But that cause is not what they thought, is it, Rafe?" Sarayou stepped up to face Rafe on the hill. She glared at him. "You killed your father on purpose, didn't you? You purposely led them along the dangerous trail. You needed Kova gone so you could take over the pack." Sarayou inched closer to Rafe, until he was at the edge of the hill.

The crowd let out a gasp as Rafe shook his head in disbelief, as if Sarayou had told him to jump off a cliff. "No, no, I would never hurt my family. How can you say that?"

"Admit it. You thought that you could blame me for causing Kova's death. You thought it would be a good reason to brainwash these innocent lupes into waging a senseless war. You thought that way you could easily get to Trimoon while everyone was out there risking their lives for an imp like you!" Sarayou was shouting at Rafe now, who was trembling, though not in fear.

Trimoon was shaking with Rafe's rage at Sarayou. The crowd fell as silent as ever, then shaded their faces as it turned red, and became a blinding light spot in his paw. It was absorbing his anger, and turning it into power, an evil, dark power like none other.

Sinya and Hasia appeared in the mob just as Trimoon exploded in a flurry of red light patterns. The three stones came apart, and released that evil into the two packs and the pride. The once lush land became a barren wasteland, and the trees became dark, twisted shapes. Fires broke out everywhere as a heat lightning storm exploded across the gelerts' homeland.

"Look at what you have done!" Sarayou screamed at Rafe as the aishas, lupes and gelerts all fell upon each other, attacking anything that ended up in their path, be it friends, family, or enemies. "Is this what you wanted? A barren battlefield of senseless death and eternal war? Look around you, Rafe! This place, these beings, it's evil. You are evil." Sarayou noticed that Sinya and Hasia were fighting each other. She went after the three stones, now lying motionless on the ground before her.

"No! Get away from those! Trimoon is mine!" Rafe shouted as a bolt of lightning hit the ground in front of him. He felt a shock surge through his body, paralyzing him. Sarayou grabbed Trimoon, and held the pieces together.

"Trimoon, please! If you wish to fulfill your destiny, come together now! The earth needs you! Please!" she wailed. Nothing happened. "Please!" Sarayou was crying now. A tear fell from her emerald eye and trailed its way down her cheek. It fell off of her face and landed on Hasia's center obsidian piece. "Please," she whispered quietly. _Please… _she thought. Trimoon began to move together, as if all it needed was a sincere tear for help.

Trimoon shone as it moved from Sarayou's paws and floated in the air in front of her. Sarayou felt herself rising into the air. She closed her eyes and concentrated on good thoughts, most of all ridding the world of Rafe and everyone like him. She thought about her mother, and Jyrich, along with Sinya, Hasia, Koveero, and everyone else she knew and was a friend to.

As Sarayou's thoughts built up, Trimoon got brighter and brighter, until at last it exploded in a rain of good and purity. This time it was gone. The three stone crystals disappeared. Sarayou was gently returned to the ground.

She watched in wonder and pure delight as the battlefield turned back into a meadow. The fires disappeared, the trees became living once more. The fighting horde of pets became aware of what they were doing and stopped. Their coats became clean once more, and their anger seemed to dissipate. They evidently didn't know what happened.

They all looked around, bewildered at how they got there and why. Only Sarayou, Sinya, and Hasia knew what had happened, but they didn't tell anything to the crowd of aishas, lupes, and gelerts. Sarayou also noticed, from her perch at the top of the hill, that Rafe and about fifty others had mysteriously disappeared too.

"Good," she muttered.

Sarayou strode down into the group, and made a beeline for Sinya and Hasia. The air was filled with chatter about how the mixed group got where they were.

"Hey, Sarayou, what in the world is going on? Why are we out here in the middle of the day?" Axel fell into step beside Sarayou.

"Good question. I need to have a private talk with Sinya and Hasia, okay? Okay."

"But-" Axel stopped walking.

"No buts, Axel. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some business to take care of. Thank you and see you later," Sarayou said over her shoulder as she stepped up to Hasia.

The trio entered the cave, and sat down just inside the entrance.

"They don't know what happened, do they?" Hasia asked. She looked past Sarayou at Axel. "Is Toranyo…" Hasia trailed off, grimacing at what was probably going through all three of their minds.

"I honestly don't know, Hasia. I'm-I'm sorry." Sarayou pulled her friend into a tight embrace. Tears fell from both of their cheeks.

"So, Girls." Sinya addressed the huggers. "What are we going to do? You know, with Rafe gone, my pack has no leader. And neither does yours, Sarayou. I think your uncle was killed in the first round of things."

Hasia pulled away from Sarayou. " Why don't you take over your pack, Sinya? I mean, you _are _the only current heir to the place. Rafe's gone, and so is Kova. Neither of Rafe's brothers can take over- they're gone too. That leaves you." she grinned at Sinya.

"I guess…" Sinya started. " But that still leaves Sarayou's pack. What about them?"

"She can lead them at my side." Axel walked in, and sat beside Sarayou. "The... our... pack just appointed me leader. Funny, huh? And, well, I could use a little help with the role." Axel had the same grin on his face as Hasia.

"Yes, I will. I'll lead my pack. Along with Axel, I'll make sure nothing will ever threaten us again. I need to go do something real quick. I'll be right back."

Sarayou took off down the few passageways that led to the crystal cavern, and entered it. She went up to the pedestal, and looked at the inscription. At the bottom, something new had appeared. She read the lines to herself, and recognized them, but she didn't know how.

_It's not the end,_

_It's only the beginning._

_You will be great,_

_Your colors tell me so._

_But if you don't believe in yourself,_

_You'll end up never using_

_Trimoon._

_It's your destiny, child,_

_To save your family from certain peril._

_If you use the power within you,_

_Life will be forever yours._

"What does that mean? Life will be forever mine? How?"

"It is your destiny, young one." A voice interrupted the silence of the cave. Sarayou snapped her head around in search of its maker. "I'm right in front of you, child." Sarayou looked at the pedestal again. Behind it stood a snow white gelert. His eyes were pearl-white. He looked at Sarayou. "Hello, Sarayou. I think it's time you met me."

"Who-who are you?" Sarayou asked, backing away.

"Don't you know your own father?" The gelert smiled, showing white teeth.

"What? You can't be my father! I was _found _here!"

"I've been dead for a long time, but my spirit has remained here, guarding Trimoon, never allowing evil to come near its holy resting place. And now it is your turn."

"What?! What do you mean 'it's my turn'?"

"You are the new guardian of Trimoon. Guard it well, Sarayou, for the fate of the earth rests in your paws…" The gelert's voice faded away along with his ghost.

"But…Father! Wait..." Sarayou walked up to the pedestal once again. In the back, the crystals were shining. But there was something different. The stones were different colors. They weren't emerald, obsidian, and amber. They were ruby, amethyst, and sapphire.

"Sarayou! There's a stranger outside! Well, three actually. I wanted you to see them. They're children- they say they're lost." Hasia came bounding into the room.

"Oh. Okay," Sarayou said, leaving the crystal cavern. At the entrance of the cave sat a bright red baby wocky, a dark purple baby bori, and a kougra cub with deep, dark blue fur. _Odd colors, _Sarayou thought as she went up to them. She started to say "Hello", but was startled when she saw their eyes.

They were ruby, amethyst, and sapphire.

**The End**

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A/N: Okay. Corny but cute...remember, I was only 10 or so when I wrote this, so of course it'd be like that. Lemme know what you think!


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